Bungala Solar Power Farm

The Bungala Solar Power Farm is a 220 MW solar power farm in Emeroo and Wami Kata near Port Augusta in South Australia. The first stage was connected to the grid in May 2018, and the second stage was connected to the grid in November 2018.^[1] The project gradually reached full power in 2020.^[2]

Bungala Solar Power Farm
Country	Australia
Location	northeast of Port Augusta, South Australia
Coordinates	32.42°S 137.84°E / -32.42; 137.84
Status	Operational
Construction began	2017
Commission date	September 2018
Construction cost	US$315m
Owners	Enel Green Power and Dutch Infrastructure Fund
Solar farm
Type	Flat-panel PV
Collectors	420,000
Site area	800 hectares (2,000 acres)
Power generation
Nameplate capacity	220 MW
Annual net output	570 GW·h
External links
Website	www.enelgreenpower.com/country-australia/bungala

History

It was expected to be completed and the two stages together able to deliver 220 MW of electric power to the national grid from November 2018.^[3] It is being developed on 800 hectares (2,000 acres) of land which was previously used as an ostrich farm, sheep and cattle station and is owned by the Bungala Aboriginal Corporation, a community employment and social services organisation.^[4] The completed project could contribute 220 MWac to the 132 kV electricity grid from 275 MWdc generation and expects to produce 570 GWh per year.^{[5][needs update]}

A professional training project is being set up to provide new skills and experience to 70 Aboriginal job seekers as part of the project. It will train them in operations and maintenance for stage 1 and construction of phase 2 of the project.^{[6][needs update]}

Construction

The development is on a 19th-century ostrich farm, later used for grazing sheep and cattle, and spans the boundary between the localities of Emeroo and Wami Kata.^[7]

The project is being built in stages. Stages 1 and 2 will produce a combined 220 MW of electricity. They were developed by Reach Energy and sold to a joint venture of Enel Green Power and Dutch Infrastructure Fund. The builder was Elecnor. Stage 3 is not scheduled to be built by 2024 but could include another 80 MW of generation,^[8] or 300 MW battery storage.^[9] Stage 3 was to be built if the company won a contract to supply electricity to the state government, however this contract was won by Aurora Solar Thermal Power Project. The entire output of stages 1 and 2 will be bought by Origin Energy.^{[4][needs update]}

Civil engineering and construction on site was managed by Catcon. The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union accused the construction company of unsafe work practices when a construction worker was crushed by equipment on site in February 2018.^[10]

As the site is 300 kilometres (190 mi) from the state capital of Adelaide where planning approval is granted, there had been some local issues that were not well understood in Adelaide. These related to dust during construction and ongoing contributions into the local economy once construction is complete. The state Planning Commission visited the site in July 2018.^[11]

The first supply of electricity from one section of 45 MW was connected to the National Electricity Market in May 2018.^[12][13] The entire first phase of the project was commissioned in September and the second phase of the Bungala Solar Project started feeding electricity into the grid in October 2018.^[14] Technical issues delayed the project finish until 2020.^[2]

Size and operation

The Bungala Solar Power Farm is one of the largest solar farms in Australia. It covers 2000 acres.

Phase One has a Max-to-Registered-Capacity ratio of 1:1.23, as the panels are 135 MW DC and the inverters are 110 MW AC. Along with solar tracking, this yields a capacity factor of 25%, of one the highest in Australia. In 2022, it earned $145 per kW capacity.^[15]

References

1. Parkinson, Giles (2 November 2018). "Bungala – second stage of what will be country's biggest solar begins generation". Renew Economy. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
2. Parkinson, Giles (11 September 2020). "South Australia's biggest solar farm finally moves to full production". RenewEconomy. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020.
3. "New Developments". Australian Energy Market Operator. 31 July 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
4. "Construction to begin on Port Augusta wind and solar farms in 2017". ABC News. 11 April 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
5. Djordjevic, Marija (31 May 2018). "Bungala Solar Project starts generating to grid". PV Magazine. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
6. "In Australia, Bungala Solar Means Opportunity". Enel Green Power. 15 June 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
7. "Bungala Solar Project - 300 MW Solar Voltaic Electricity Generation plant" (PDF). Application on Notification - Crown Development. 20 October 2016. 010/V031/16. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
8. Parkinson, Giles (11 April 2017). "Huge 300 MW solar farm begins construction near Port Augusta". Renew Economy. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
9. "Site for huge battery sold to owners of South Australia's largest solar farm". RenewEconomy. 28 April 2024.
10. Pengelley, Jill; Jones, Erin (19 February 2018). "WA man dies as union claims site 'unsafe'". The West Australian. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
11. Balsamo, Marco (19 July 2018). "State Planning Commission visits Upper Spencer Gulf". The Transcontinental. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
12. Green, Amy (1 June 2018). "First output from Bungala". The Transcontinental. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
13. "Australia's biggest solar farm switches on in Port Augusta". 15 May 2018.
14. "Bungala Solar Farm goes fully online as Australia's biggest solar project to date". 5 November 2018.
15. Lee, Dan (13 March 2023). "Why capacity factor is an increasingly simplistic way to compare solar farm performance". WattClarity.